ACTUALITE |
18.03.2002
Hayatou claims European backing
Issa Hayatou says he is confident of victory in the battle against Sepp Blatter for the presidency of Fifa.
And it is easy to see why he is so sure of success.
At the press conference in Cairo to announce his challenge, the Caf boss was flanked by five members of Fifa`s executive committee, including vice-president Antonio Matarrese of Italy and Uefa president Lennart Johansson.
And the head of Korea`s football confederation and Fifa vice-president, Chung Mong-joon, is also backing the Cameroonian`s bid.
Hayatou is standing on a ticket of transparency and ending the political in-fighting which has damaged Fifa`s reputation in recent years.
"If I am elected president, I will do everything I can to finally bring friendship back to Fifa so we become one family again," said Hayatou.
Clean-up campaign
"Myself, and my supporters want to restore peace, confidence and security to the Fifa organisation," he added.
"I want to reinforce the credibility of Fifa and restore its integrity as an institution."
The election for president takes place two days before the World Cup, at the Fifa Congress in Seoul on 29 May.
Hayatou has to convince the majority of Fifa`s 204 member associations that he should replace Blatter as the most powerful man in world football.
He is sure he is already in a strong position.
"I am sure I have the support of a large majority of the African associations," Hayatou told reporters.
"I am not a European, but I have the support of Uefa, the European governing body as well. If I didn`t believe I had their support I would not have put myself forward."
But Hayatou has misread support in the past.
In the election that brought Blatter to office, the Cameroonian was confident that African associations would all back Lennart Johansson.
Many, however, voted for Blatter instead.
The president of Caf said he wanted to clean-up Fifa after recent embarrassments.
Hayatou`s remarks about cleaning up Fifa drive s are aimed to discredit Sepp Blatter`s regime, which has seen the collapse of Fifa`s marketing partner ISL with reported debts of some $300 million.
Blatter has also refused to disclose details of his salary, and has fought against an internal audit of Fifa`s books.
Asked whether a betting man should put a wager on Cameroon winning the World Cup and him becoming Fifa president to complete a double victory for his country, he said: "I would put my money on both."
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